MR. W. K. PARKER ON THE OSTEOLOGY OF THE KAGU. 503 
that of the Norfolk Plover (@dicnemus) would arrest attention first, as coming nearest ; 
and if that of the Kagu were placed between these two, it would at once be seen to be 
a perfectly intermediate form. 
This need excite no surprise ; for the Cranes are certainly Pluvialine birds, having no 
little affinity for the Herons; and, moreover, the Kagu, being a generalized type, comes 
much nearer to the true Ardeinz than do the typical Cranes. 
In the Psophia’s skull there is a very strong resemblance, in general outline, to that 
of a Pheasant; but this vanishes on closer inspection, and then its exceeding nearness 
to the Rails is at once evident: moreover it has the superorbital chain of the Tinamou. 
The skull of the Hwrypyga is seen at once to come quite as close to that of a Stilt- 
Plover (Himantopus) as to that of a Bittern, and, indeed, closer ; more minute observa- 
tion shows that it is essentially the same as that of the Kagu, but feebler and having a 
more elongated face. 
The face and skull of the Kagu are of equal length (Pl. XCII. figs. 1-3) ; the orbits, 
as in (Edicnemus, are extremely large, the postfrontal region being unusually wide and 
overhanging. The skull is very broad behind (Pl. XCII. fig. 4); the only related bird 
that makes any approach to the Kagu in this respect is the Night-Heron; and here the 
Kagu departs furthest from the Pluvialine, and comes nearest to the Ardeine type; for 
the temporal fossze are extremely large, and are bounded by strong ridges in front (the 
coronal), at the mid line (the sagittal), and behind (the lambdoid). Compare with this 
state of things the low, small, widely separated temporal fossee of Anthropoides, Balea- 
rica, Psophia, Eurypyga, Ocydromus, and Edicnemus. In Nycticorax the postorbital 
angle is very distinct from the postfrontal process; in the Kagu they are coincident 
(Pl. XCIL. fig. 3). But the Kagu and Nycticoraz are very similar in the bounding of the 
temporal fossa below, this valley being in both very deep between the postfrontal and 
the descending spur of the squamosal (zygomatic process of the Mammal). This spur, 
however, is much the largest in the Kagu; and in this respect this bird shows an affinity 
to the Struthionide on one hand, and to the Cariama on the other. The foramen mag- 
num (fig. 2) is large; and the condyle is a little wider in the transverse than in the lon- 
gitudinal direction. The tympanic wings of the exoccipital (figs. 2, 3, 4) are very much 
like those of the Night-Heron, but are larger and deeper. The symmetrical bosses of 
the basitemporal are very mammillate and distinct ; they agree with those of the Gruinx 
proper; but the anterior lip of the basitemporal plate is delicately thin, as in the 
Ardeine (PI. XCII. fig. 2). The large, trumpet-like anterior extension of the tympanic 
cavity, on each side, is like what is seen in all the congeners of the Kagu; they are 
formed in front by the posterior pterygoid processes of the basisphenoid. In front of 
these, the “‘ anterior pterygoid processes” are seen as small, aborted, angular projections 
(Pl. XCII. fig. 2); and in front of these the “rostrum ” (formed by the grafting of the 
parasphenoid on to the true basisphenoidal beam) is narrow, subcarinate, and com- 
pletely fused with the base of the orbito-septal plate. These two parts are somewhat 
VOL, VI.—PART VIII. 4a 
